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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Ji Young Song¹, Yueh Ying Han², Joel L. Weissfeld², and Devra Lee Davis¹. (1) Center for Environmental Oncology, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, UPMC Cancer Pavilion, Fourth Floor, 5150 Centre Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, 412-478-9266, songjy@upmc.edu, (2) Graduate School of Public Health: Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, 130 DeSoto Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Reporting delays for cancer incidence indicate that for most sites recorded rates are about 2 % below actual rates, within the SEER Program and have not been widely discussed. This paper assesses adjusted trends in recent time, period and birth cohorts for breast cancer in women, using delay adjustment ratios from the SEER 9 Registry and the Canques database. Age-period-cohort analyses were performed with delay-adjusted incidence rates of breast cancer among African American and white women in the U.S. from 1975 to 2002. Estimates of the long-term increase in breast cancer incidence over time are given by the average annual change: 0.76% for white and 1.39% for African American women. These simple linear time trends alone do not adequately capture the temporal patterns in both whites and African Americans. Breast cancer incidence in white and African American women deviated from linearity due to age, time period, and cohort effect. Regarding generational risk, the chances of getting breast cancer in new generations are about 21% higher in whites and 41% higher in African Americans than the previous generations. Mammographic screening only became widespread after 1994, and was used more by whites in their fifties, than by those in their sixties and older, or by African Americans. This may account for patterns in whites after 1994, but cannot explain patterns in African Americans. Additional research investigating these differences is needed to determine whether avoidable or preventable factors account for some of these patterns and to anticipate demands for health care.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Understand the calculation of delay-adjusted estimates of the long-term increase in breast cancer rates over time in white and African American women in the U. S. from 1975-200
• Acknowledge the differences in pattern of breast cancer incidence among white and African American women.
• Understand the need for research investigating controllable factors that may account for these patterns.

Keywords: Epidemiology, Breast Cancer

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered